1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting apparatus and lighting system for an entrance of a vehicle, specifically for lighting up a footstep when a driver, a passenger(s) gets in/out a vehicle. Particularly, the present invention relates to a lighting apparatus and lighting system attached to a bottom surface of a side mirror.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various kinds of lighting apparatuses attached to a vehicle body for facilitating a driver, a passenger(s) getting in/out a vehicle have been used. Moreover, a so-called “keyless entry” apparatus for locking/unlocking doors of a vehicle by a remote control key is also used in recent years. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 9-48284 and No. 3-286077 disclose lighting apparatuses which light up a road surface in response to a control from a remote control key for assisting a driver or a passenger(s) getting in and out a vehicle in a place where it is dark and a poor foothold.
Meanwhile, in order to improve riding comfort, it is required for a vehicle to, for example, decrease the sound of wind roaring caused by an airflow which occurs between a side mirror and the vehicle body during driving. Concurrently, decreasing the sound of wind roaring which occurs during driving is required when the above-explained lighting apparatus is externally attached to the vehicle.
The above-mentioned conventional lighting apparatuses disclosed by those publications, however, do not employ shapes and structures specifically designed for the reduction of the sound of the wind roaring which occurs during driving. Particularly, in a case where the lighting apparatus is attached to a conventional vehicle body as an option, the riding comfort would be impaired when the sound of the wind roaring is generated during driving due to the attachment of the lighting apparatus.